Texel - an island of rabbits

There are not too many places like Texel - allowing to relax among nature, away from everything. Where the wild rabbits live, and where sheep and cows graze on green meadows. A place, where pheasants stroll lazily.

Texel is part of West Frisian Islands and is separated by the Wadden Sea from the Netherlands. As it is the largest island of the archipelago and is the closest to the mainland, tourists like this one the most. The other main islands (Schiermonnikoog, Ameland, Terschelling and Vlieland) are less crowded and noisy because of the difficult access. You can reach it by ferry, but the costs are unimaginably high.

Ferry to Texel

The travel by ferry to Texel takes approx. 30 minutes, and we sail from Den Helder. Transfer costs approx. 2.5 Euro/person one way. If someone is planning to take a car, the fare increases to approx. 36 euros (round trip). The most popular option is to leave the vehicle in Den Helder and rent a bicycle - you can do it right at the ferry or on the island. In every village on Texel there’s a rental, and the total length of bicycle paths reaches 140 km.

The island has its own airport, Texel International Airport, but the vast majority of tourists choose the ferry. It runs on a regular basis, with the greatest intensity during the holiday season. On the ferry there’s a shop and canteen, as well as a basket with free newspapers. It’s worth taking one, because they include maps of the island and calendar of upcoming cultural events.

Walk around the island of Texel

Once you have placed your feet on Texel you can - as we have already mention above - rent a bike or, if you visit the island during the summer season, take the minibus and go to explore other villages. They run fairly rare, but are integrated with hours of ferries’ runs, so after reaching the shore you can immediately rush toward the bus stop.

Wandering through the northern part of the island, we must remember that we shouldn’t leave the walking paths - we are on the premises of the national park. Because of its amazing beauty, tourists really enjoy coming here. At the end of Texel, behind De Cocksdorp, there’s a lighthouse. It stands on a promontory with a sandy belt of nice beach around it.

If we’re lucky enough to see the tide, there’re high chances of coming across at least few interesting species of sea creatures. Apart from crabs, on Texel you can see the so-called marine mushrooms (zeepaddenstoelen), looking like a big broken egg with blue yolk. Those are jellyfish, plenty of which can be met in this region. An equally interesting view are also clusters of squid’s eggs, resembling sea anemones. One of the tubes of the cluster can fit up to 100 eggs.

The fauna of the largest island of the archipelago

From the North Sea Texel area is sandy, with numerous beaches and dunes with low vegetation. In turn, the south-eastern part of the island is typically agricultural. Residents breed sheep, on pastures we’ll also see many pheasants and furry cows, that may look like bison. Wandering through meadows, we’ll surely encounter many rabbits. They have no natural enemies here, so they live on the island freely multiplying happily.

A trip to Texel will delight every ornithologist. Apart from sheep, cows, rabbits and creatures that are thrown on the shore by waves during high tide, on the island you will see great habitat of birds. During the season of migration the amount of birds increases, because they’re resting on the surrounding wetlands.

Overnight on Texel - where to search for it?

The largest town of the island is De Koog, a bit like a country side, but very developed for tourists. The accommodation can be found easily in one of the many guesthouses. The village also has a lot of restaurants, shops and stalls. First of all, it has a very good location – from there you can reach any town of Texel by bike.

The island is ideal for someone looking for a quiet corner to relax. For someone, who wants to observe nature, enjoy the sea breeze and green meadows. Texel isn’t suitable for party people, but they actually don’t visit it.